[All purchased by me]
I am not the kind of person to typically want to make myself look tanner. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing that I realized, “hey tan legs look nice.” Then, supported by my overly enthusiastic friends, I took the hint and the went for something to tan up my pasty complexion. Eventually I landed on probably the most mundane of all self tanners: Jergens Natural Glow (with less odor!!). I chose the color medium to dark because it kind of seems like a waste of money to buy the lighter shades. Why, may you ask, did I also then go out and buy the Nivea self tanning lotion in fair to medium? This was on sale and I didn’t read the label is the short answer.
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| L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Bronze Ambition and Physician's Formula Bronze Booster in Medium to Dark |
The Jergens lotion does have a strong “faux fresh” scent on initial application but not much of a self-tanner scent. I used to use Neutrogena’s Build a Tan way back in the day and that definitely had that distinct self-tanner smell but this one isn’t so bad. The color built up relatively evenly over the course of 4-5 days of daily use. The Nivea I use more as a “maintenance” tanner. Yeah I am getting real technical with my self-tanners since I’m such a pro now (not). It doesn’t add much color and with about 3 days of continuous use I would say it actually makes the tan from the Jergens fade. Nivea has a citrusy scent and zero fake-tanner smell. I guess this is good for those who want really low risk but also will end up with low reward. Of the two, I recommend the Jergens one for a noticeable tan.
As everyone says, it’s important to properly exfoliate if you’re going to self-tan, especially on the first day. Use a scrub- don’t just rely on a loofah and be careful around ankles, knees, elbows and hands. In fact, always wash your hands after you apply any tanning lotion.
Spurred on by my need to bronze up my face I also added a new bronzer to the mix. I had been using Tarte Park Ave Princess bronzer in the mini size and thought “meh.” In terms of drugstore bronzers, Physician’s Formula always outranks any other bronzer brand in terms of quality (and price, this cost almost $14) so I chose the Bronze Booster in Medium to Dark as it contained self tanning “glow booster” ingredients. How effective they are, I couldn't really tell you since I just got it but I didn’t want to apply the Jergens on my face or go and buy a self tanner specifically for my face (I’m not that committed to this bronze goddess thing yet). What I can say is that this is a very finely milled powder with barely detectable sheen that looks natural on the skin. The packaging is overly bulk as almost all Physician’s Formula powders are but it does look nice for something that doesn’t break the $20 mark.
I decided that I also needed to have L’Oreal Infallible shadow in Bronzed Taupe while I was at it after seeing this on Amelia Liana’s Youtube channel and recommending it to someone starting out in make-up. I have a few of these and I know the texture pretty well. The metallics are particularly impressive and I recommended this because it has enough depth to act as an all over lid color as well as a crease color. There’s no overly complicated palette blending and shadow placement techniques involved. You can just use your finger to smudge this up to the crease and slightly over for a pretty smoky eye. I blended this out with that Physicians Formula bronzer for a matte transition color cause I was feeling extra fancy with some liner and it was a complete look. I don’t think this shadow is a must-have if you have loads of neutrals in your collection and I think it’s especially something you don’t need to run out to buy if you own a lot of Bareminerals Ready pressed shadows in neutral tones. Is this one of my favorite of the Infallible shadows I own though? Yes.
UPDATE: the Nivea self-tanner is really not worth it. It actually detracts from the tan that the Jergens gives.
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